Tale as Old as Time, Yet we Know Nothing
by Swa-Sa Masou
Summary: It's a tale as old as time. Here's the thing about being as old as time: the winners write the history books. What if we really know nothing about the Beast, Gaston, or their respective relationships with Belle. BellexGaston, BellexBeast
1. Chapter 1

_AN: It's a tale as old as time. That's the thing about stories from history, though: the winners always write them_.

 _Bonjour!_

 _Bonjour!_

 _Bonjour!_

 _Bonjour!_

Belle was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Gaston in front of her. His loud greeting combined with the jarring silence from the street as many passersby began to eavesdrop on the young couple had thrown her, rudely, from the pages of the book. "Gaston, good morning. Back from a hunting trip this morning already?"

Gaston took the book from Belle's hands and flipped through the pages. " _How can you read this? There's no pictures!"_ The playful smirk he gave her did nothing to assuage her anger at having the book taken from her.

Knowing full well that it was an exercise in futility as Gaston had a foot of height on her, Belle jumped for the book that he was holding just outside of her grasp, but he evaded her attempt. " _Some of us like to use our imaginations!_ And look who's talking, Mr. I Finished the Iliad in one sitting. Once I showed you that books about fighting and hunting exist, it turned out that you loved reading them." Belle lunged for the book once more and Gaston caught her around the waist, tucking the book safely back into her grasp and spinning her around in one smooth movement. He ended his theatrics by dipping her low and drawing her into a kiss.

Although surprised by the sudden disorientation of gravity, Belle wrapped her arms around his neck, something that she couldn't manage unless he picked her up or he had her dipped, as with this situation. Standing them both upright, Gaston pretended to be scandalized. "I have to save my reputation here, Belle. Imagine if all of these townsfolk knew that you had shown me Greek stories!" In truth, Gaston was seeing himself as a bit of a modern-day Theseus or Hercules (he was certain he could have caught the Hind and Boar much faster) and was enjoying that he and Belle could sit in her back pasture for hours and read together. Granted, her books were much longer and she would still finish long before he would, but she was happy that he was reading, and he found that he actually enjoyed it himself. When it was about the right stories. Just as Belle had told him he would.

Belle giggled, "you know, that would probably actually make some of them decide to pick up a book as well. You know how so many of them idolize you." She straightened the apron on her skirt and looked up at Gaston nervously, "Are you walking me home? We still have some things to discuss." She gestured unobtrusively to her pocket, which he knew held the ring he had proposed to her with, but as he hadn't asked her father for permission, she wasn't wearing it yet.

Their courtship had been so short-lived but it had been truly amazing for the both of them. Belle found that there was so much more to the seemingly vain hunter who used antlers in his decorating schemes. Just as Gaston had learned that Belle was more than just a pretty face.

When they had first talked, they both knew of each other, but that hadn't translated to a smooth introduction. Gaston had only seen her as someone pretty that he could have a multitude of strapping young boys with while raising hunting hounds. Each step of the way, Belle had dodged his plans, but he became smitten with her. Her quick wit and quips against his advances meant to make him give up only endeared her to him. She impressed him at every meeting, including the first time he thought she was going to let him kiss her, but then she opened the door behind the two of them causing him to fall down the stairs into the mud. She clearly hadn't intended for him to actually fall and when he landed so roughly she did come out to check on him.

Spitting mud from his mouth and slicking the hair back out of his face, he assured her that he was fine. Apologies continued to tumble from her mouth until he suggested that, to lessen her guilt, she allow him to take her to dinner. To his astonishment, she agreed on two conditions: That this dinner not be at the local pub and that he not talk about hunting for the duration of the meal and walk home.

Although the prospect scared him a little, (she was going to make him not talk about his job and what he was best at?) he readily agreed. The dinner was thoroughly enjoyable, as they had a picnic behind her home and they talked of almost everything, except hunting, well into the night. The dinner spot grew into their usual meeting spot and the two had grown closer, with Gaston even relenting to her requests that he pick up a book and read. Belle, for her part, had gone into the woods with him a few times and had even fired his gun, promptly falling over as he had not warned her about the recoil.

Two days prior, Gaston had pulled out a ring from his bag and had asked Belle for her hand in marriage. While she agreed, she asked if he had gotten her father's blessing. In truth, Gaston had had every intention of asking for Maurice's approval and had not planned to ask while the inventor was away, but the moment had seemed so perfect, under the stars, after a good meal, that it just popped out.

Maurice came back the next morning, but Gaston, beloved of the village, accomplished hunter, the man who was roughly the size of a barge, was afraid to ask the diminutive Maurice for his blessing in Gaston's marriage to Belle.

The two continued their walk up the path leading toward Belle's home. "You know he'll say yes! Papa's told you time and again that he likes that you're in my life with him being gone so often. He thinks that I'm safe with you. He feels better knowing that you're going to check on me each day that he's gone. And he leaves tomorrow! I don't want to keep this to myself for another several days!" Gaston had pulled Belle close to him, almost as if drawing comfort from her. This was a side he showed only to her. He was all bluster and confidence for everyone else in the village. She was allowed to see that certain things did scare him. She was just trying to conceal her amusement that confrontation with her father was one of those things.

Throwing open the front door, Belle called, "Papa, I'm home! Gaston is with me!"

Maurice came up from his workshop and wiped his hands on a rag before embracing his daughter and shaking hands with Gaston.

"Well, Gaston, what brings you to my humble cottage today? Usually the two of you remain outside for most of your time together."

Gaston had seemed to have gone mute. He was visibly paler and sweating. "Maurice, I was hoping to talk to you about something." He had faced down bullets in the war. He had seen enemies hiding in trees and taking aim at him and had felt less nervous than this. "I know that you know Belle and I have spent considerable time together these last several months. Well, I was hoping to make that more permanent. That is to say, I was hoping to continue to see your daughter more often, and more officially. I- "

Belle cut him off with her laughter and Maurice was trying to hold back a chuckle as well. "My boy, I remember how terrified I was to ask for my own father-in-law's permission. Are you asking for my daughter's hand in marriage?"

Gaston barely managed to splutter out a "yes" before Maurice had turned to Belle to quietly question her. "Belle, when he first started talking with you, you were annoyed at his advances, are you sure you're happy with this? Are you sure you're okay with the future you'll have with him? You've always dreamed of adventure in a wider world."

Belle, knowing full well that Gaston could hear them, tried to comfort her father's fears. She had already thought through all of the objections her Papa could raise as well as a mountain of her own. The Gaston she had met first was not the man standing before them. "Papa, he's not who I thought he was. He's really a much better person than most people here think he is. And he's been to the new world, fighting for France! He's had more adventure than I can even dream of! We don't have to stay here if we don't want to. I love him, Papa, and he loves me. This is what I want."

This was certainly true, Gaston had plans to move them closer to Paris as soon as they could convince Maurice to move back there. They both understood that the ghost of Belle's mother still haunted him and the city, but this small life wasn't for either of them and Gaston could be a game hunter and trapper almost anywhere.

Maurice grasped Belle's hands, seemingly satisfied with this answer. Looking from his daughter's face to Gaston's, Maurice sighed, but a huge smile was on his face. "All I've wanted for Belle since she was born was health, happiness, and love. You give her that and a chance at the future she wants. I give you both my blessing."

Belle turned to Gaston, elated, but trying to conceal their physical intimacy in front of her Papa. Gaston sensed her apprehension, and so, in lieu of a kiss, he embraced her and spun around with her safely in his arms. He couldn't remember ever feeling so happy.


	2. Chapter 2

"Belle, you're being ridiculous, why are you insisting that you go alone after your father?" The pair had been trying to clean up her father's workshop in the afternoon after he had left for another convention, as a surprise for him, when Belle noticed a necessary piece left on the workbench. Now she was going to ride after him and give him the missing part on her own. Gaston wanted to come with her, to make sure that she'd stay safe.

"I am perfectly capable of riding for half a day by myself. We've more than 3 hours left of daylight and I know the route through the woods by heart. I used to go with Papa when he would go. I can make it with the sun still shining and I'll be fine. Besides, we've spent enough time in the woods together that I can tell the sound of a wolf from the sound of a stag. I'll be fine! You've got commitments here that you shouldn't break. This is your first meeting to try to make selling furs your actual job instead of a side job from selling the meat from your game. This is a big step in us leaving here. You can't miss it." Belle was set in her ways. He knew this set of her mouth when she was sure of something. The only time he had ever seen it change was when he had convinced her to give him a chance, and he didn't have months to persuade her in this situation as he had then.

He also knew that he was being irrational. She was right. Her destination was a mere five hours away by horse. She would be out of the woods and on a well-traveled path in two if he stopped stalling her.

"I'll be safe. I promise. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon when I return." She reached up on her tip toes and gave him a quick kiss. "I love you. I'll see you soon."

For his part, Gaston was unsatisfied with this parting moment and swept her fully to him for a much more substantial kiss.

When the pair finally broke apart, Belle felt breathless. "You had better not kiss me like that as I'm about to get onto my horse, I won't be able to keep my balance!" She backed up and wound her hands around the reins of the horse, preparing to haul herself into the saddle. "Now, don't go visiting any of the triplets while I'm gone! Her smile said she was joking as she swung a leg up and over the wide leather, but Gaston moved closer and placed a comforting hand on her thigh anyway.

"Belle, you know I love you and you're the only one for me. Be safe. You've got my heart with you, after all!" Belle ran her hand through his hair, the jewel setting of the ring catching slightly as she did so, and smiled softly.

"I love you too. It's only for a day, Gaston! It will all be fine." He moved out of the way of her horse as she spurred it into movement. Watching her trot away, he wouldn't know that they had just shared their last truly loving embrace.

* * *

But Belle did not return the next day. Gaston had barely slept all night and had been irritable all day. The village hadn't yet heard of the engagement, even LeFou hadn't been told yet. So none of them understood why he was so upset. Many knew he had been courting Belle, but no one knew how serious the two had become in a few short months.

After a round of drinks, and a rousing pep talk from most of the pub, Gaston left, feeling energized. Surely Belle had just been delayed a day and would be back tomorrow. On his way home, he stumbled upon Maurice.

Shocked at the sudden appearance of the inventor when he had just convinced himself that Belle was safely with her father, Gaston barely made out a coherent greeting, followed by the question burning at his lips, "is Belle home then?"

Maurice looked shaken to his core as he barely registered who he was talking to. "She's been taken! The beast has her! We've got to get her back! I need to find help!"

This was Gaston's worst fear realized. She hadn't made it safely out of the woods. She had been attacked. But why had Maurice been there to witness it when he should have safely been at the inventor's convention by the time Belle left? "Maurice, what's happened to her? How did she find you? Tell me everything."

Maurice was rushing to his house as he talked over his shoulder, "I got lost in the woods and came upon a castle that I don't ever recall having been there. I went inside to warm up and to pick a rose that Belle had asked for. I was captured by a terrible beast! He must have been 9 feet tall. I was thrown into his dungeon. It seemed like days, but by everything Belle said, it must have only been hours. She found me and traded herself for me. I couldn't stop it. I was taken out of my cell and she threw herself in and locked the door before I realized what was happening. He was terrifying. We have to get her out."

Gaston was sure by this point that Maurice had seen Belle attacked by some wild animal and had lost his sense in the horror. He was raving about a beast and a castle, that, if they existed, Gaston would have seen. He had been hunting in these woods all his life. He knew them well. "Maurice, there isn't any castle in these woods. You must be mistaken. Is it possible anything else happened?"

"No! There is a beast, I tell you!" By this point, Maurice had tossed powder and ammunition into a sack and was grabbing him long-barrel from above the mantel. Gaston realized that he was going back into the woods, mistaken or not. And Belle was possibly still alive, alone and terrified in those woods. She was resourceful, she may have gotten away from whatever attacked them.

"Maurice, let me go get all of my hunting gear and get a few more men together. We'll find Belle."

* * *

They didn't find the trail to the castle that night. They saw no sign of a struggle in the woods the next day. By the fourth day, it was only Gaston and Maurice still wandering in the woods. At the start of the fifth day, Maurice was going back out to the woods alone as Gaston poured over a map of the woods, trying to find what they were missing. He tried to convince Maurice to stay and make a plan with him, but he was determined.

That night, Maurice showed up badly hurt at the pub where Gaston was organizing a larger search party, although he was quite despaired by this point and had realized that this may well already be a search for Belle's remains instead of for an alive and safe Belle.

Maurice was raving about the beast and the castle again. He had been worried about this. He was Maurice's only ally in the town. Most of them thought that Maurice was crazy already. He had taken preemptive measures to keep the father of the woman he loved safe while he was gone. The caretaker of the local prison and medical facility was going to keep Maurice in the area where they kept mentally disturbed patients until Gaston could return, with or without  
Belle and move him away from the sad memories. Maurice fought against it, of course, but had just been confined when Belle herself came riding into their midst.


	3. Chapter 3

"Belle!" He could say nothing else. She was so beautiful and she was here and she was _alive_! He moved as quickly as his legs would carry him to her horse. He lifted her from the creature and held her tightly to him. "Belle, I've been so worried about you. You've no idea." In his ecstasy, he barely noticed that she was freshly bathed as a woman lost in the woods for a week should not be, let alone in a fancy ballgown. What he did immediately notice was that her arms did not wind around him.

"Gaston, why is my father in that carriage? What are you doing to him?" Belle looked panicked. She was pushing against his hold on her and, as reluctant as he was to let her go, he relented. Gaston quickly tried to backtrack, to explain his plan.

"Belle, you've been missing for a week. Your father and I have been out searching the woods for you day and night. It's been so much stress on him. This is just to take him someplace to force him to rest until" he paused. He had been planning to force Maurice to rest until he had confirmation of Belle's body. Then both of them would be leaving town and not looking back "until we had some closure about you. We've both been going crazy with worry over you. He even started ranting about some ridiculous beast covered in fur and with enormous teeth in a castle no one has ever seen before." As insane, as absolutely senseless as it was to think about, Belle's sudden appearance, in extreme finery, did lend credibility to the idea of a castle in the woods.

Belle had flung herself at the door to the carriage but spun to look at him, seeming unsure of his explanation. A furious look clouded her face at the mention of the beast. "It's true, Gaston. I've been with The Beast this whole time. I traded myself for my father's freedom. I haven't been treated like a prisoner!"

The watching crowd looked uneasy at this proclamation. Belle pulled a mirror from the bag at her side and screamed at it, "show me The Beast!" Sure that his fiancée had truly lost her mind in the woods as she was shouting at a mirror, Gaston was amazed, as was everyone else in the town square, when a picture formed of a monstrous Beast looking at a flower appeared instead of showing them a reflection.

Reaching for the mirror, Gaston stared in horror. This creature had been holding Belle prisoner for the last week. All the while he had been searching the woods, not believing Maurice about this beast of the castle. Who knows, if he had taken the idea seriously, perhaps they would have found her. "Belle, you can't mean to say that this, this thing hasn't been mistreating you! Just look at him!"

The crowd was growing, the fear was spreading. People were calling for Belle to be thrown into the carriage with her father. Someone was shouting about if the beast came to look for her they needed to get rid of her. Gaston just wanted to keep her safe. He also wanted to point out that if this beast did come to look for her, her absence would not work in their favor. But the crowd was seeing through red-tinted eyes. It was a type of bloodlust he had seen in fellow soldiers. Once it got like this, logic was in short supply.

While the people worked themselves into a frenzy, Belle had run to the window of the locked carriage to clasp hands with her father. "Papa! Why are you in here? What are they doing?"

Reaching through the window, Maurice took his daughter's hands in his own rough, weathered ones. "Gaston was trying to help. It's easy now, with you safe in front of me, to see that I've been behaving erratically. I've barely been sleeping and neither has he. The way that man loves you, Belle, and the way I love you, we've both been acting in odd ways."

"He doesn't love me, Papa. The Beast has helped me see everything in a new light. Gaston only loves himself. I see that now. I'm going back to him as soon as I know that you're safe."

She had been so intent on her words that she hadn't noticed Gaston behind her. He stumbled back silently. Surely she hadn't said what he thought he had just heard. The Gaston that he had been before the war, the Gaston he had been a year ago, you could say that of, but not now. The man he'd become with her was ready to do anything for her. Of course he loved her, what had this beast done to her? She was still speaking softly to Maurice and hadn't noticed they were being overheard. Then a passing torch illuminated her profile and Gaston noticed something that boiled his blood.

He was seething now. How dare this beast tear apart their love? How dare he seep into her mind and make her question his devotion to her? How dare he lay a hand, a paw, anything on his beloved?! He ran back to the crowd that was still mumbling amongst themselves. "We must rid our presence of this monster! Men, arm yourselves! Gather your weapons and tuck your women and children away safely. We'll attack in half an hour's time! Kill the Beast!"

It took so little to whip a crowd into the state that they were willing to resort to violence. A resounding chorus of "Kill the Beast!" echoed through the small town commons. The mob dispersed to follow his instructions as Belle, red in the face, looking wildly manic, but still beautiful launched herself at Gaston.

"He's not the monster, Gaston, you are! How can you ask these people to kill someone you don't even know? Someone you've never met?!" She was crying in frustration and looked ready to physically attack him.

Gaston reached around her, unlocked the latch on the carriage and stepped into the structure that was holding her father, gesturing for her to join him. She looked apprehensive, but stepped inside as well. As she passed him, he could see it even better. Her exposed shoulder bore the mark of a dark purple bruise. "If I didn't know better, Belle, I would say you have feelings for this beast. But as you rode off with my engagement ring on your finger, I know that can't be the case." He hurled the words accusingly at her.

For herself, Belle had the grace to look ashamed, before she looked down at her now empty left hand. Then her look turned defiant. "Why do you care, Gaston? Afraid that someone else will get the toy you've been trying to lock away? You never wanted me as anything other than a prize to be won. He understands me. He treats me as I deserve to be treated!"

Gaston momentarily overlooked her words, her charges that she was railing against him. There were bigger problems to try to deal with and, God willing, he would be able to talk to her more rationally later. He'd had to get her someplace private to confirm his suspicions. One bruise on her shoulder could have been attained from a misadventure in the woods. He was watching her as she spoke. He could also see a place on her cheek where the make up was smudged and appeared to be globbed on thicker than the rest. The bruise he had noticed earlier, by the shape, could have been made from a wolf, but it would have to have been a massive wolf. She was favoring her right side as she paced in the small space. She might hate him for now, but she would get better. "Belle, what's on your shoulder?" She froze.

Trying in vain to pull the sleeveless off-the-shoulder strap up, Belle tried to shrug it off. "It's nothing. It's none of your concern."

Maurice, who had stayed quiet to that point, letting the young lovers have their spat, moved forward. "Belle, it may not be his concern, but it will always be my concern. Answer his question."

Belle was on the defensive. It was all too familiar to Gaston. His mother often sounded like this in the market when he would accompany her as a boy. The marks that she hid under shawls or with poorly applied make up had been caused by his father, night after night. He could remember her excuses to him each morning. "He doesn't realize he's doing it. He doesn't know how strong he is. I just need to remember to not make him angry." One night his father had too much to drink and he hit too hard. By that point, Gaston had been a young man. He understood what had happened to his mother. The next time his father had joined him on a hunting trip, an unfortunate hunting accident had befallen the older man. Gaston knew these signs. He knew the excuses too. He was ready for Belle to tell him.

Looking between the pair of them, she began to stammer. "I, Papa, it's not that bad. You saw him, he's just, he's just very big. He didn't realize it would hurt me." Maurice stepped up to Belle and went to draw her into his embrace, but his stature being much shorter than that of his daughter meant that his hands fell at her waist. At his touch, Belle sucked in a sharp, pained breath. Maurice immediately stepped back, but shared a look with Gaston.

Gaston situated himself in front of the as-yet-unlocked carriage, cutting off any escape Belle might have been planning. "Belle, it's more than just your shoulder, there's a mark on your face that you tried to cover, you're limping slightly, and your father just proved that your side is painful to the touch. I can't let you go back to him. How is this treating you as you deserve to be treated?"

Belle continued to look angry. "Papa, you can't be taking his side. You had reservations about me accepting his proposal! You could see that he's not right for me. I should have listened to you. The Beast has helped me to see everything wrong with us. I trust him, Papa. You must believe me."

"Belle, what has he told you? What have you told him that he was able to turn you against me? Tell me what he said, shouldn't I get my fair shot at defending myself against whatever he's said?" Gaston was pleading with her now, but he knew it was unlikely to have much effect. If watching his mother put up with his father for years was any indication, Belle would never willingly let go of this beast if he had twisted everything to make him, Gaston, look like the bad guy in this story.

"I don't need to prove anything to you." She lurched forward, clearly hoping to catch him off guard. "Let me out! Let my father and me go. I only came back to get him, let us out!"

Knowing that he couldn't let her out until this Beast was taken care of, he looked past her to her father, "Maurice, you'll stay with her until I come back for you?" He paused for a moment, thinking that if this beast really was nine feet tall and he was going after it himself, he might not be the one to return, "until someone comes back for you, at least?" Maurice nodded, gravely.

Looking utterly betrayed as she glared between the two men, Belle flushed a deep red, realizing that Gaston wasn't going to let her out and her father wasn't coming to her aid. Gaston let himself out and quickly locked the latch so that father and daughter were stuck inside. He hoped Maurice would be able to talk some sense into her while they were gone. Already, men were starting to amass outside, ready to attack.

With a heavy sigh, Gaston called over Belle's sobs and angry words, "I love you, Belle. You'll see, this is for your own good." And he set off to kill the creature his beloved claimed to want to be with.


	4. Chapter 4

Gaston sat astride his horse. He never thought he would be leading men into battle again. Especially untrained, angry, undisciplined men against a castle that, until an hour ago, he didn't think existed. This was entirely out of his realm of comfort. This entire ride, while shouting advice and encouragement to these men, his head had been swimming with the information learned about Belle. It made no sense. When a hunter hurt an animal, the animal fled. Belle was intelligent. Probably the most intelligent person he had even met, how could this creature change everything that she believed in and in such a short time? How could she doubt his love for her? What did this beast have that he didn't, if indeed Belle had fallen for him, in spite of the pain he was causing her?

Come up over a ridge, he caught sight of an enormous castle. How had they missed this for all of these years? Then again, he was holding a magic mirror and going to attack a castle that held a giant beast. His sense of belief was going to have to stretch here. Rounding the steps on the grounds, he warned the crowd behind him to take caution and to leave the beast to him. He had riled them up because of his jealousy and protectiveness over Belle, he couldn't have any of them risking their lives against this beast for him. Acting in the heat of the moment, he had used the crowd to his advantage, when he probably should have tried to come alone. Sneak up on the beast, attack, rid Belle of him, and go back quietly. There was no need for the rest of the town to get involved. Even if he tried to reason with them now, it wouldn't work, so all he could give was cautionary advice.

Entering the foyer, all seemed quiet, until- the literal books, tea sets, and candelabras started attacking. He had to mentally shake himself. He entertained for a second that he along with Maurice had gone crazy in the woods while looking for Belle. Then a saucer struck him in the chest and he returned to the task at hand. He saw the villagers start to panic as he searched room to room upstairs, above them. He supposed that furnishings running off all of his back up achieved what he had hoped for anyway- he would be alone with the beast.

Coming upon the west wing, the damage to the castle became more and more evident. The lighting was broken, actual inanimate furniture was lying in pieces. He almost passed by a pile of rags and furs until his torchlight glinted off something hard in with the pile on the floor- horns. So this was the beast.

He called into the room, "Stand up! Face me, beast! I need some answers from you before I kill you!" While he conceded that this was not the best approach, he was hoping to flush the beast out of his room. They were already in his home, it would be best if they found a more neutral ground to fight than the beast's actual bedchambers. However, all the beast did was shift his head. The firelight caught his eye.

A voice much less gruff than Gaston had been expecting, in truth he wasn't sure he thought that beast could talk, replied, "So, she chose you then."

Livid once again, Gaston entered the room, tactics be damned. "Of course she'll choose me! I would never lay a hand on her, in anger or otherwise. You've marked her perfect body in your anger and you're going to pay." The beast finally stood and he was, indeed, nearly two feet taller than Gaston.

"I would never hurt her on purpose!" He roared, more than yelled back at Gaston. At least he was on his feet now.

Gaston noticed that his legs were substantially smaller than his upper body, if he could just catch him off balance. He had to keep talking. He needed to keep the beast distracted, to maneuver him to a more convenient location. "Oh, I'm sure that the marks you've left on her were completely innocent. Did you think she was one of your other possessions, not made of flesh and blood?" They were in front of a window now, a window that overlooked what appeared to be a set of elevated paths across the upper portions of the castle.

"I- I never meant to!" He was approaching Gaston, as the circled each other. He was almost perfectly positioned with his back to the window. Just a few more feet and Gaston would be able to tackle him through it. "We were at dinner and she laughed at how I ate. I got so angry- I threw a plate, it glanced off her cheek, left a small mark. She was defiant over and over again, I reacted. I never meant to hurt her! I love her, unlike you!"

At that, Gaston saw his chance, he lunged for the beast's ankles and the beast became unbalanced, crashing backwards through the window. Broken glass swirled around them as they both landed outside in the heavy wind, Gaston quickly stood, ready to fight again. He pulled a dagger from his belt. "You think you really love her, don't you? Do you know a thing about love? If you really loved her, you wouldn't be doing any of this. She was engaged, to me! She loves me! You twisted this all around in her mind, you've been manipulating her."

The beast was breathing heavy, but he had made no move to approach Gaston. "She talked of you, you know. Sitting in her library, the one that _I_ gave to her, we talked all night. She spoke of her fears of being with you. You who hunts all the time, you who pursued her against her wishes. She saw when surrounded by everything that I could give her that you weren't right for her. I still have the ring you gave her, sitting on the mantle, sitting amidst the books she had pulled off the shelves to read. I've apologized every time I've hurt her and she's forgiven me. Maybe you should check with her to see if she can forgive you for locking up her father. I saw that it was in you in the mirror, the same as she did." The words he was spitting at Gaston cut deeply, and the beast must have seen this on Gaston's face. But the triumph morphed to despair a moment later, his massive shoulders sagged. "What does it matter now? You're here and she's not, that means she chose you. It doesn't even matter, just kill me and be done with it!" Gaston was all to happy to oblige and raised the dagger when both turned their heads at the loud whinny of a horse. They saw Belle galloping up the steps of the castle. How had she gotten out of the carriage? How had she gotten away from Maurice?

By the time Gaston looked back, the beast had disappeared. Apparently, Belle's appearance revived his will to live. No matter, Gaston had tracked many large beasts through the woods and now Belle was here. He had to keep her safe.

The two sparred across the roofs. Gaston placed the dagger back into his belt and pulled out his pistol. He was able to get two good shots off at the beast as they fought, but Belle's sudden appearance unnerved him. He was so caught off guard that she was able to take the pistol from him. The beast saw them from where he was standing, 20 yards away, on another walkway, unable to reach them. Gaston had a sudden idea- the beast was willing to die when he thought that Belle had chosen to leave him. He grabbed Belle swiftly about the waist, careful to avoid the side he knew was hurt. He kissed her deeply and swiftly, knowing that she would likely push him away shortly and the beast needed to believe it.

He heard the beast roar in agony as he witnessed the kiss, which meant that he hadn't noticed Belle pull roughly away. "Gaston, what in the world are you doing? You have to stop. Just leave! I've chosen him. I'll never marry you."

Gaston chose, once again, to ignore that pain that her words brought. She may never forgive him for this, but he could save her from the beast's anger. "Belle, no matter what he says, remember that I love you. I'm doing this for you."

He started to take off up the path to meet the beast that he was sure was rushing toward them at that moment, but her words stopped him in his tracks for just a moment, "and _you_ remember, Gaston, that no matter what happens, I took your ring off." Her words were as icy as the winter air around them. He had to push past them. This wasn't about winning her back, this was about her safety.

As the fight continued, the beast's superior height and strength got the best of Gaston. He found himself at the mercy of the beast, the beast that he had already shot twice, as he dangled helplessly over hundreds of feet of empty space. The beast's hot breath blew in his face. He could hear Belle behind and below him, that meant she could see this. He had one last desperate attempt to save his life and Belle's future. "You can't throw me off here, Belle will see. She'll lose faith in you that you're as gentle as she thinks."

The beast's face softened. "She said that? She still has faith in me, then." He threw Gaston down without a second thought and ran toward the platform that Belle was standing on. He saw the two reunite and pulled out a secondary pistol, taking careful aim, he hit the beast once more in the back. The crack of the gunshot meant that he barely heard the splintering crack of the masonry below his feet.

Gaston's last sight was of Belle, leaning over the beast, the creature who was possessive and authoritarian toward her and who lashed out physically when he got angry. He plummeted through the air to his certain demise. "Belle, be smarter than this. Run. Run away from him. Keep yourself safe." Gaston would not be able to save Belle after all, but he prayed that she would be able to save herself.

 _A/N: I got some questions in reviews and PMs. I was hoping my first author's note made it clear that I'm writing this as if the movie(s) is(are) not the full story. This is written to tell the "true" story as if the beast is the one telling the original- making himself look good. The idea comes from a post online about "honest" Disney titles and this one is Stockholm Syndrome. Since, in the movie(s), Belle is defiant toward the beast until he starts being respectful, it doesn't really fit Stockholm Syndrome, but if the audience is being manipulated because it's all from the Beast's perspective (making himself look good, exaggerating everything bad about Gaston and leaving out anything good about him, and telling us that they really do love each other as most abusers think that they do), then we really don't know what Belle was like with Gaston. I do love the original Beauty and the Beast._


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